MADRID: Spanish champions Barcelona returned to the LaLga leadership by defeating Eibar 3-0 while previous leaders Real Madrid lost, for the first time this season, by 1-0 away to Mallorca.
Lago Junior shot Mallorca in front after seven minutes. Madrid’s hopes of getting back on level terms were hit when Alvaro Odriozola was sent off 16 minutes from time.
Barcelona’s attacking trident of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann all got on the scoresheet for the first time together at Eibar. Griezmann put Barca ahead in the 13th minute after a route-one move from his side as Clement Lenglet launched the ball from the heart of the defence down field to release the France forward, who calmly slotted inside the near post. The three forwards all combined for the next two goals.
Suarez brought the ball into the area for Griezmann to slide it across for Messi to score in the 58th minute. Griezmann was the architect of the third goal, rolling the ball from deep into the path of Messi, who then squared for Suarez to tap into an empty net in the 66th and round off Barca’s fifth consecutive victory in all competitions.
Atletico Madrid’s frustrating La Liga run continued as Dani Parejo’s stunning late free kick earned Valencia a deserved 1-1 draw in the Metropolitano.
Diego Simeone’s side had managed only one win in their previous five league games, scoring two goals in that sequence, and their attack misfired again as more points were leaked. Diego Costa’s 36th-minute penalty sent the hosts into the break ahead but they should have established a wider margin before Valencia came surging back in the second half.
In Italy . . .
Cristiano Ronaldo and Miralem Pjanic struck as Serie A leaders and perpetual champions Juventus beat Bologna 2-1. Danilo had equalised for the visitors after Ronaldo had put the champions in front.
Two goals from Arkadiusz Milik helped Napoli return to winning ways in Serie A with a 2-0 home victory over Verona. The Poland international had not scored this season going into the game, but struck in either half to end his drought.
Napoli’s form had stuttered before the international break but a comfortable victory at the Stadio San Paolo helped Carlo Ancelotti’s side narrow the gap on third-placed Atalanta to one point after they were held to a draw by Lazio.
Lazio produced a remarkable comeback to earn a 3-3 home draw with Atalanta after trailing 3-0 at half-time courtesy of a Luis Muriel double and an Alejandro Gomez strike. But Ciro Immobile’s second successful penalty of the afternoon levelled the scores in stoppage time after Joaquin Correa also struck for the hosts.
In Germany . . .
Augsburg held Bayern Munich 2-2 with a stoppage-time strike from substitute Alfred Finnbogason which prevented the German champions from reclaiming the top spot in the Bundesliga. They remained one point behind the league leaders, Borussia Monchengladbach.
Bayern were stunned when Augsburg’s Marco Richter scored in the first minute after a one-two with Rani Khedira. But Gnabry crossed for Lewandowski to equalise in the 14th minute.
That goal ensured the Polish striker matched Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s Bundesliga record of scoring in each of the first eight games of the season, which the former Dortmund striker, now at Arsenal, managed in 2015.
Lewandowski also became the first to score in eight consecutive league games for Bayern since Dutch forward Roy Makaay in 2005.
Gnabry fired Bayern ahead four minutes into the second half with a fine individual goal, but the visitors were stunned again when Sergio Cordova set up Finnbogason’s late equaliser.
Monchengladbach hold a goal difference lead over Wolfsburg, the only unbeaten team remaining in the league, and who fought back to earn a 1-1 draw with RB Leipzig.
Marco Reus’s second-half strike was enough for Dortmund to end its three-game winless streak, though the home side needed to overcome two disallowed goals and their own suspension of England forward Jadon Sancho for disciplinary reasons.
Dortmund coach, Lucien Favre, suspended Sancho after he returned late from international duty with England.
In France . . .
Nantes missed the chance to climb back to two points off leaders Paris St-Germain after going down to a solitary late goal at lowly Metz.
Senegal forward Habib Diallo slammed in the winner with four minutes remaining to secure Metz their third league win of the season and lift them out of the bottom three.
It was a forgettable night for Nantes, who saw their three-game winning streak halted and played for more than half an hour with 10 men following Mali defender Molla Wague’s red card for his challenge on Diallo.
Reims made it three wins from four as they beat Montpellier 1-0 at home to climb into third place. Defender Yunis Abdelhamid’s early header was enough for Reims, who had a second goal in the first half, scored by Remi Oudin, ruled out by the video assistant referee for offside.
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